Stop Doing Cardio!
We are lead to believe that cardio is how we lose that stomach, or how we lose fat in general. Well I'm here to bust another myth, cardio IS NOT THE ANSWER TO FAT LOSS!!
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Why though?? It would make sense the more calories you burn the more fat you lose, but that is not the case. Running, you're mainly using your aerobic energy pathway, and type one muscle fibers, which is fine, but if you are running you are running at a normal pace which your body gets used to over time. Low intensity=low energy usage=low calories burned. So indeed, we don't burn as many calories as we might think by running.
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So what's the answer? The answer is strength training, and no ladies, strength training won't make you look like a man, your hormones won't allow that. Strength training not only uses type two muscles fibers (which are more energy demanding fibers, which equals more calories burned). Not only that, but approximately 70% of your calories burned come from when your not at the gym. How do you burn more calories not at the gym? By having lean muscle!! The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn doing daily activities. With weight training also comes a cool thing called the "afterburn" affect. Which is simply your body being so exhausted from weight training, it actually continues to burn calories after your workout and 80% of it comes straight from fat!
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Need more reason to weight train? Here ya go then! When you workout with weights, your body sends a stimulus to the brain, to tell the body to build that muscle, all of that takes energy as well, energy=calories burned. So when you weight train try to do compound movements (squat, deadlift, bench) that build multiple muscles at once, for more calories being burned! How many reps and sets? Try to go to muscle failure at around 15-20 reps of 3-5 sets! Look up interval training and circuit training workouts! They're perfect!
**Notice I said "for fat loss"! This doesn't apply to anyone endurance training, or if this is your sport! Running is good for endurance and heart health!